Chapter 20: Hogwarts

That Tuesday morning, Hermione and Ron dropped the kids at school and then apparated to Hogsmeade. McGonagall had suggested flooing to her office directly, but Ron wanted Hermione to see the castle from the outside on her first visit.

As Hermione had never apparated before, Ron warned her that it would feel rather strange and to keep a strong grip to his arm. As her feet hit the ground she fell directly towards Ron and would have hit the ground if he had not immediately slipped his arm around her waist to catch her. Her hand landed on his toned chest, and her face hit his shoulder and neck, leaving her quite flustered. He helped her find her feet.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I promise you, everyone feels that jumbled the first time they apparate."

She tried to smile to brush over her flustered feeling, but in her head she laughed to herself thinking, Definitely not just the apparition that has me feeling jumbled. But once she had caught her breath she did feel more grounded, and she and Ron set off for the castle.

Coming up to the gates, Hermione felt like she was in another world altogether. The castle rose above the rugged hills and grey mist like a fairy tale. At the gates Ron introduced her to Hagrid, who fussed over Ron as if he was his only child. Hermione could tell that whatever Ron had done in his past, he had been exceptionally kind to this giant of a human. They walked across the grounds, with Ron pointing out various sites such as the quidditch pitch and the lake. But as they only had a few hours that morning, he promised a more thorough tour another time.

They made their way among robed children scurrying to classes and Ron led her to a pair of stone statues in a hallway. After Ron stated, "Ginger Biscuits," the door magically opened, revealing a twirling stone staircase which they hopped upon as it rose. Hermione was speechless, trying to take in this magical castle while Ron seemed quite nonplussed by it all.

"Hello Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, please come in. I hope your first sights of the castle were inviting ones."

Ron smiled while Hermione was still struggling for words, "It is all rather unbelievable isn't it? I suppose you aren't quite as mesmerized by the awe of this place anymore."

"Oh no, Ms. Granger. I am actually in more awe of Hogwarts every year I am here. This place continues to reveal its secrets even after centuries of witches and wizards have passed through its walls. I am honored to get to serve as headmistress for a short time, and it never loses its' magic to those who know it best."

"And after a while the magic and the memories mix to create a whole other type of magic," Ron mused, though his eyes seemed far away to Hermione as he spoke.

Professor McGonagall eyed him briefly after this comment, but quickly bayed them to sit in her study, offering tea and ginger biscuits, which Ron readily accepted.

"You seem less overwhelmed by all of this than the last time I saw you," noted Professor McGonagall.

"Oh definitely!" exclaimed Hermione. "I was definitely in shock after you left. But, Ron has helped me learn a lot in the past few weeks, and now that I have a wand and have been able to learn and begin to practice, I am much more excited than overwhelmed."

"I'm so glad to hear it," Professor McGonagall said. "What have you been studying?"

Hermione looked to Ron, who guiltily swallowed his mouthful of biscuit before he could answer.
"Sorry," he apologized to the waiting and bemused witches as he wiped crumbs from his face. "Actually, she has been tackling an incredible amount, Professor. She's worked through probably the first three or four months of first year charms already. We have been taking a rather practical approach, practicing spells she can use in the house and that would be helpful for her. But, as I told her, she has probably read more magical texts by now than I have. She is a voracious reader to be sure."

Professor McGonagall seemed slightly humored at the idea of Ron Weasley trying to keep up with this witch's reading habits. "That is wonderful to hear. I think getting a base of the theory and history of the subjects is the best way to ground yourself for future knowledge. Have you given any thought to how you would like to approach your education from here?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "Well, Ron suggested that I try to meet with several professors to see what they might suggest for a course of study or recommended texts."

"I think that is a fine idea," the elderly witch nodded. "I don't want to overwhelm you by trying to meet with everyone at once, as I know you are also working full time, not to mention raising your daughter and presumably helping Mr. Weasley figure out how to raise Hugo Creevey in a muggle world."

"Well, yes. With my schedule I wouldn't be able to come up here every week. But, I can read and practice in the evenings and on the weekends. And Ron has promised to keep helping me."

"I thought she might start with you and Neville, Professor, as she has met you both previously. But, it would be lovely if I could introduce her to a few others while we are here."

"Of course, that would be fine. Although, I am guessing Herbology will not become her passion, so to speak. While History of Magic was never your interest, Mr. Weasley, I suspect Ms. Granger may have a far greater interest in the subject. And, I do not believe you have met our new professor for that subject either."

"It's not Binns anymore?"

"No, Mr. Weasley. Professor Binns is no longer teaching, though he still floats through the castle. I see him mainly in the library these days."

Noting Hermione's confused expression, Ron explained, "Binns was a ghost, and he was horribly boring. Though, I must admit that even if he had been a tremendous professor I can't imagine the history of goblin rebellions would have been remotely interesting to my eleven year old brain."

"Ghosts teach here?" Hermione asked, befuddled. Ron proceeded to explain about ghosts, and Professor McGonagall explained that there were not any more ghosts permitted to teach, but she encouraged Hermione to introduce herself to some about the castle.

"Right," said Hermione faintly. "But, I would love to read about the history of magic. History has always been one of my favorite subjects, and I am quite anxious to learn what my Oxford education left out of the picture so to speak."

"You went to Oxford?" gawked Ron. "I thought that was only for brilliant and connected people?"

Hermione looked slightly embarrassed while Professor McGonagall said quickly, "Mr. Weasley, I see you haven't completely lost your gift for tripping over your own mouth. Ms. Granger here is one of the most intelligent individuals I have met, and while the youth of many muggle elites attend that school, it is not exclusive to the social elite. I believe you will find Ms. Granger has more than earned her entry. Furthermore, her educational ambitions would be good to rub off on those who may not have graduated at all or completed any NEWTs."

"Sorry," gulped Ron, properly chastised. "That's not what I meant. I know you love learning, Hermione, and I think that is fantastic. I guess I never really thought through who attended that type of school, since it was most assuredly out of my universe of possibilities."

"Back to the question at hand," said Professor McGonagall. "I think you should meet Professor Gibson today before you leave. She was trained in America and attended both muggle and magical schools. She isn't too much older than you are, and I think you would rather enjoy her. At the very least, she can give you a suggested reading list and you could correspond about any questions or topics that catch your eye."

"I would enjoy that, I think," nodded Hermione.

"Ok. So, you've met Hagrid, and you know Neville and Professor McGonagall. We'll go meet Professor Gibson. Who else should she talk to today?"

"I suggest you take her to the library so Madame Pince can meet her and help her locate any texts she may require in her studies. I think she should also meet Professor Flitwick. I'll trust you and Harry to direct her education in Defense unless you tell me otherwise, and we can put off Divination and Potions for the time being, I believe. I suspect Arithmancy and Ancient Runes will come further down the line, but it is much too early for that."

"I would also like to meet the nurse Fleur mentioned if that is alright. I know she wouldn't be part of my education, per se, but I believe it would help me feel better about sending Rose here in a few months."

"Of course, Ms. Granger. I hadn't actually thought about that as a concern parents may have. Maybe you and I should talk more about how I could improve the communication to muggle parents who are all rather shocked when I show up at their door telling them their children are magical."

"I would like that," agreed Hermione. "I definitely understand the apprehensions they likely have."

"Are you still teaching transfiguration Professor?"

"No, unfortunately I had to give up all but some NEWT level classes in order to focus on my other duties. Professor Sparrow teaches that now. But, I would like to direct your training in that subject personally if that is acceptable to you, Ms. Granger."

"That would be lovely," Hermione agreed.

"Wonderful. I hoped that would be alright, and I took the liberty of drafting up a suggested reading list for you on the subject. Mr. Weasley could help you with some of the practical exercises I have notated, but I would like for you to come and discuss some of it – maybe once a month or so. And we can discuss the other issues then as well."

"Sounds good," Hermione agreed.

Soon she and Ron had departed the headmistress' office and walked through the old, stone hallways of the castle. Ron took her to meet Madame Pomfrey, who Hermione enjoyed as much as Fleur had promised. Intentionally avoiding the Great Hall on this visit, Ron then took her to meet Professor Flitwick and Professor Gibson. Both Ron and Hermione thoroughly enjoyed Professor Gibson, who quickly insisted they call her Sally. Like Hermione, she had muggle British parents and had been raised in America, but she had attended Ilvermony. After her time there she had pursued additional magical and muggle studies in England, and had been teaching at Hogwarts for the past five years. Sally and Hermione clicked immediately, with their brilliant minds, international perspectives and passion for history causing an instant bond. Ron was blown away by their discussion, quickly realizing he didn't have a chance of keeping up with their conversation. Sally insisted on walking with them down to the library to show her where some key texts were held she thought Hermione should read.

Not surprisingly, Hermione was in heaven when she saw the library. Ron realized he would be there a while, and found himself a seat while Hermione wandered the aisles, trailing her fingers over the various books. All of this one on one time with her had only solidified his feelings for her, but he knew he was in no position to do anything about it. They had a delicate balance built between the two of them and the two kids, and he knew he couldn't dare disrupt that – at least not anytime soon. The more he learned about her, though, he increasingly wondered if she might think him not smart enough to consider in a romantic way. He was sure if she'd been a student here she would have been sorted into Ravenclaw and spent almost all of her time in this library. As he watched her gaze longingly at the dusty books, Ron quickly found his brain imagining her gazing at him that way, or trailing those fingers through his hair. His mind drifted further to what he could get up to with Hermione back in the hidden rows of the library, burying his hands into her insane curls as he snogged her senseless. As his mind and body imagined that scene, he realized he needed to find something else to focus on if he was going to be able to walk back across the lawn with Hermione to leave. Forcing his thoughts towards his case, he found the herbology texts and found one to peruse while he sat waiting for Hermione.

Wandering through the stacks of books, Hermione felt mixed emotions in the Hogwarts library. There were ancient texts, and the idea that she could read all of them felt like she had discovered hidden treasure. But, she also felt cheated, knowing that all of this should have been open to her decades ago. It was funny to her that she hadn't really felt that way until she had stepped into this ancient space. Even walking through the castle walls hadn't set her mind that way, but seeing all of this knowledge that had been hidden away from her until now somehow released that sense of injustice. But she also felt grateful – not only that she had access to all of it now, but that Ron had brought her here. He understood her so well. Even when he didn't think about something the same way she did, he somehow sensed how she would approach it and knew what she needed. He knew she needed to see this library, and she suspected he knew she would need someone to talk to about how she felt about finally seeing what she had been missing.

Peeking through the book shelves she could see him sitting at the table with the sunlight shining on him through the window. The light was setting off his hair, making it look like it was a glowing a copper red. She thought wistfully of the years she had missed when she could have been a young teenager with Ron in this space. She wondered if she could have dated him if she'd been here then. Her imagination quickly let her envision a scenario of being with Ron, wandering off to an ancient hallway and what it would have felt like to have him pin her against a stone wall, his lips meeting hers as his weight crushed against her. Feeling the flush creep up her neck as she imagined the scene with Ron, she shook her head and tried to refocus on the present moment and predicament. She didn't want to mess up their friendship and make it harder on the kids that things already were. And, she was a middle aged, slightly out of shape woman who stuck out like a sore thumb in the magical world. She couldn't imagine someone as handsome, popular and successful as Ron Weasley could be remotely attracted to a book-worm control freak with a middle aged saggy body. No, those feelings would have to stay in the world of her fantasy life and not the real world. But, even if she couldn't have the fantasy, she was thrilled she had his friendship guiding her through this whole experience.

Eventually she came out from the stacks of books and sat down with Ron at the table. "Thanks for being so patient while I went through the library."

"I knew you would love it here. And, now you know you can come any time."

"Should we go see Neville before we leave?"

"Definitely. He'll be in the greenhouses, and we can walk past them on the way back out to the gates."

As they left the library and walked out towards the greenhouses, Ron sensed a tenser mood settle upon her. "Are you alright Hermione? You seemed so excited earlier, but I can only imagine how hard it is to see all of this knowing a stupid mistake almost thirty years ago by some unknown person caused you to miss out on it."

Hermione nodded, smiling that he had understood why she was so conflicted. "That's exactly it, actually. This place is magical in every possible way. I am thrilled to discover all of this knowledge and history that had been hidden. But, it is hard to see what could have been. I don't regret it happening, as I would never have found my way to Rose, I suppose. But, it is still rather bittersweet to see it with my own eyes. And, then on the other hand, I am so excited for Rose. She will thrive here, as will Hugo. And it is fun to think of Dennis and Collin meandering these halls when they were young. But, all of that adds up to a strange mix of emotions to swallow at once."

Ron reached his arm around her to hug her from the side as they walked. "I am so glad we came. This place is magical, and it can be an amazing part of your future. There will be a lot of great memories here that are yet to come. And I can tell you and the library made quite an impression on each other."

She grinned, "Yes, I will enjoy spending time there. Rose will probably hate having me pop up to research things, but she'll just have to adapt to that!"

They were laughing imagining the mortification Rose would face ahead studying alongside her mum as they entered the greenhouse to find Neville.

"Hermione! Ron! I'm so glad you've come," beamed Neville whose arms were elbow deep in a foul smelling fertilizer.

"Cheers, Nev," said Ron. "I've been showing Hermione around Hogwarts and we wanted to stop in and say hello."

"So good to see you again," smiled Hermione.

"I promise, I won't shake your hand right now," laughed Neville. "Dragon dung fertilizer is probably not what you had in mind for today."

They chatted about what Hermione might be interested in learning about, as well as discussing Ron's case for a few minutes. But soon a bell rang and the greenhouse filled up with robed students so Neville had to return to his teaching duties. Hermione and Ron set back out to the gates to Hogsmeade so they could apparate home.

(Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews and PMs. I am really thrilled people are reading and enjoying the story. I have received a lot of comments encouraging me to hurry up and get them together already. I had said up front this was a long, slow burn story...and it is! But, I promise, stay tuned and VERY soon you will hopefully see the two of them figure out what the rest of the world has seen all along.)